1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to ultrasonic cutting. More particularly, the invention pertains to an improved apparatus for ultrasonic cutting of food products for use in automated systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Commercial food products are typically prepared in bulk sizes which are cut into desired dimensions. It is highly desirably that the cut food product is of visually good appearance with minimal waste. Poor cutting can result in deformed, crushed, or torn product with significant waste.
In recent years, the application of ultrasonic food cutting has been introduced which provides many significant benefits for use in commercial food processing applications. For example, the quality of the cut face is especially clean in visual appearance, multi-layer food products can be easily cut without smearing of the layers, and the cutting operation is especially sanitary in comparison to conventional cutting methods, which is of significant importance in the food preparation industry.
In known ultrasonic food product cutting machines, a cutting blade is generally caused to vibrate at 20-40 kHz to move a cutting tip of the blade rapidly back and forth. This very high frequency movement effectively reduces the co-efficient of friction to a very low level, enabling the blade to slide through the food product.
After each cut, a food product can be repositioned by a rotary table, for example, where multiple cuts in the product are desired. It may be appreciated that the proper positioning of the food product with the ultrasonic cutter is important, especially in cutting bakery products, such as pies and cakes, where the multiple cuts of the bakery product are to converge at a center point. However, movements of the food product to the ultrasonic cutter can often become problematic resulting in damage to the appearance of the product. Many food products, such as multi-layer bakery products, become relatively unstable after multiple cuts have been made. Accordingly, the start and stop motion of the food product to move and position the product to the ultrasonic cutter can become undesirable where damage to an unstable product occurs.
As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, the apparatus of the present invention differs from those previously proposed and employs a number of novel features that render it highly advantageous over the prior art, as well as solving the aforementioned problems.